Enemies will destroy the temple
(Also in Matthew 24:1-2; Luke 21:5-6)
1When Jesus walked away from the temple, one of his disciples said to Him: ‘Teacher, look at these big stones and these beautiful buildings.’ 2Jesus said to him: ‘Do you see these beautiful buildings? The enemies will come and break down all these buildings. They will destroy everything, and not one wall will stand. This is sure.’
People will suffer
(Also in Matthew 24:3-14; Luke 21:7-19)
3Later Jesus sat on the Mount_of_Olives near the temple. Peter, James, John and Andrew came to Him. They were alone with Him. They asked Jesus: 4‘Tell us: When will the things happen that You told us about? How will we know when it will happen? What will be the sign that it will start to happen?’
5Jesus said to them: ‘You must be careful that no one lies to you. 6Many people will use my name and say they are the Christ. They will deceive many people who will believe them.
7Do not be afraid when you hear there is war near you or war far from you. These things must happen but that will not be the end of everything. 8Nations will fight against each other. The people of one land will make war_against the people of another land. There will be earthquakes in many places and people will have no food to eat. This will be only the beginning of the suffering.
9You must be very careful, because people will take you to court. They will beat you with whips in the synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings because you believe in Me. And then you can tell them about Me. 10But before the end comes, all the people must first hear the Good_News. 11If the people arrest you and take you to court, do not worry about what you must say. God will tell you what to say. It will not be you who speak. It will be the Holy_Spirit who speaks. 12A brother will betray his brother and ask the court to punish and kill him. Fathers will take their children to court and children will rebel_against their parents and they will ask the people to kill their parents. 13Everyone will hate you because you believe in Me. But if you keep on following Me to the end, God will save you.’
People will oppress the believers
(Also in Matthew 24:15-28; Luke 21:20-24)
14Jesus said: ‘You will see a very wicked thing that makes God very angry. It will stand in a place where it should not be. Everyone who reads these words must try to understand it. If you are living in Judea at that time, you must run and flee to the mountains. 15If someone is on the roof of his house, he must run. He must not first go into his house to get something.
16And if someone is in the field, he must not go home to get his clothes. 17Women who are pregnant or mothers with little babies will suffer a lot. 18You must pray that this does not happen in winter time. 19People will suffer a lot when this happens. Nothing as bad as these troubles has ever happened from the time that God made the earth, and nothing as bad as these troubles will ever happen again after those days. 20People will suffer a lot when this happens but God has decided to make those days shorter. If God did not decide to make this time shorter, then no one would stay alive. But God has decided to make the time shorter to help his chosen people.
21When someone says in those days: “Look, here is Christ,” or “Look, there He is”, do not believe him. 22Because there will be people who are false. They will say they are Christ. There will also be false_prophets and they will make signs and do miracles. They will try to deceive the chosen people of God to follow them. But God has chosen his people. That is why the false_prophets will not be able to deceive them. 23You must look and be careful. That is why I tell you everything before it happens.’
The Son of man will come again
(Also in Matthew 24:29-31; Luke 21:25-28)
24Jesus said: ‘In those days, after people have oppressed the believers,
“the sun will become dark
and the moon will not shine.
25The stars will fall from the sky
and everything in the sky will shake.”
26Then the Son of man will come and everyone will see Him. I will come on the clouds and I will do everything that I want to do. I will be the Great_King. 27I will send my angels and I will call all the chosen people of God to come together. I will call them together from the east and the west, from the north and the south, from one side of the earth to the other side.’
The parable of the fig tree
(Also in Matthew 24:32-35; Luke 21:29-33)
28Jesus said:
‘You must learn this lesson from the fig tree: When the branches of a fig tree are getting soft and the leaves start to grow, then you know that summer is near.
29So, when you see all these things happen, you should know that the Lord is near and He will come soon. 30I tell you this and it is sure: Some people who are alive now will still be alive when these things happen. 31Heaven and earth will disappear one day, but my words will always be true. They will not disappear.’
No one knows when the Son of man will come again
(Also in Matthew 24:36-51; Luke 12:35-48)
32Jesus said:
‘No one knows on what day and what time of day I will come again. The angels_in_heaven do not know and I, the Son of man, do not know when it will be. Only the Father knows. 33You must be awake and ready, because you do not know when that day will come.
34It is like when a man goes away from his home for a long time and he tells his slaves to look after his home and everything he has. He also gives work to each one and tells them what they must do and he tells the guard at the door to stay awake. 35This is how you must be ready because you do not know when the master of the house will come back. You do not know if it will be in the evening or in the middle of the night or in the morning before the sun comes up. 36When the master of the house comes back and surprises the people, then you must not be asleep. 37I tell you and everyone: You must stay awake and be prepared.’
